


these pieces of me you still hold

by somanystars



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, Romance, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24749944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somanystars/pseuds/somanystars
Summary: ‘Rachel. The someone is Rachel. Rachel. Luke’s Rachel. My Rachel? Rachel. Rachel is here. I’m going to need more coffee,’ Lorelai’s mind was working overtime. Suddenly she understood how Luke felt five years ago. The look on her face was probably pretty similar too.
Relationships: Lorelai Gilmore/Rachel (Gilmore Girls), Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [sorry to keep you after you were gone](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21429001) by [ren_ascent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ren_ascent/pseuds/ren_ascent). 



> This fic was inspired by ren_ascent's story "sorry to keep you after you were gone". I read it and wondered what it might be like if Rachel came back to Star's Hollow once Luke and Lorelai were together. I also found the Lorelai/Rachel pairing to be really interesting so I wrote a thing. It's not a continuation of ren_ascent's story, it's just inspired by it and basically assumes that the events then happened. Read it if you haven't, you totally should, it's amazing.

It’s early, and despite getting in late last night, Rachel decides that she’ll go out now and take some photos, just for the heck of it. Her last assignment took a lot out of her, and now she needs to do something that’s just for her. She picks up her camera and replaces the film. The world may have gone digital but that doesn’t meet she has to. Her camera bag is worn with memories of being lugged around the world with her, still she treasures this bag. She smiles as she zips it up, she always knew Luke never picked it out for her, it was far too thoughtful and made too much sense. Luke’s gifts never made sense. Lorelai, it was all Lorelai. 

Over the years, she occasionally thought about Stars Hollow, about Luke…about Lorelai. She wondered from time to time how she was doing. In danger of delving too deep into The Life She Could Have Had, she picked up her bag and grabbed her hotel room key and headed out. 

*  
As she walked she would stop occasionally when she happened upon a moment worth capturing. She enjoyed the fact that she got to see small moments between people, or a moment experienced by one person. She continued down the street, and eventually came to a news stand. Walking passed it, she noticed a familiar sight. There it was, restored to its former glory: The Dragonfly Inn. To use some cliché analogy that it was fate that she happened across this particular news stand, that just happened to have this particular magazine, that just happened to have a cover story on that particular inn would be a little much, but she couldn’t help but think that maybe fate was, at least in some small way, telling her something. She decided to give into fate’s advances and picked up a copy of the magazine for herself. 

She could feel Lorelai as she looked at the photographs, her personality was all over this beautiful building that Rachel too had such a strong connection to. She sat down on a park bench to read the article and to look closer at the photographs. As she read the words, she could see maybe her and Lorelai had more in common than she’d thought when she first met her. Back then they hadn’t exactly been in the best position to have the ‘Who’s Crazier: my family or your’s’ talk. Maybe this was her second chance. Her second, third, heck, her fifth chance with Luke hadn’t exactly gone her way, so maybe fate was giving her another chance with Lorelai.

*

Rachel wasn’t one to travel with a ton of stuff, she fortunately, did not need much. Having too much stuff meant you had a place to keep it all, not much good if you’re always moving.

The bus was crowded but not overly so, thankfully, she didn’t have anyone sitting next to her. She still had the magazine in her hands, and was still entranced by the photographs. She almost didn’t notice when the announcement came that they had arrived. 

She packed the magazine into her bag and stepped off the bus. There it was: Stars Hollow, forever unchanged. Time had forgotten this place, it would forever be captured in its own little snow globe. 

She looked around at the familiar buildings, including Luke’s, but that would not be her first stop.

The Dragonfly wasn’t far, so she decided to walk over there. She had no idea what she would say, or if Lorelai even remembered her, or if she would even be there. None of that mattered, she had to try. Second chances and all that.

*

As she approached the wisteria covered porch, memories of the times she had spent here came back to her. She’d photographed this place more times than she could count, but something always brought her back. Not knowing how today would turn out she was thankful that the last time she’d come here was just about the most perfect a day could possibly be. Hopefully today would live up to it, at least a little. Rachel took a deep breath as she walked up the steps: this was it. 

Michel was standing at the check-in desk, surly and sarcastic as ever. She didn’t know if he remembered her, but that wasn’t important, “Excuse me, is Lorelai here?” She asked, keeping it simple in case he didn’t remember her. 

“She is,” Michel answered, not in the mood to give more of a reply than that. People were stupid, and he had found that over the years people who wanted to talk with Lorelai were either personally involved with her, thus of no interest to him, or workers she hired, who would also probably end up being of no interest to him. 

Rachel smiled, “Can I see her?” 

Michel nodded and begrudgingly went off to fetch Lorelai. 

_‘I guess that’s a yes,’_ Rachel thought.

  
*  
“There is someone here to see you,” Michel said, finding Lorelai in her office: it was pay-check signing day.

“Who is here, Michel?” 

“I do not know, I do not care, but they are here,” he replied. 

“Intrigue. I’ll be out in a second, I need to finish signing these first, tell them to wait in the Lobby,” she replied.

“Thank you for telling me how to do my job,” Michel said, walking out to do just that.

“He _is_ in a mood today,” Lorelai said to herself, as she signed the last check. 

*  
Lorelai came out of her office to see who the mystery person was.

‘ _Rachel. The someone is Rachel. Rachel. Luke’s Rachel. My Rachel? Rachel. Rachel is here. I’m going to need more coffee,’_ Lorelai’s mind was working overtime. Suddenly she understood how Luke felt five years ago. The look on her face was probably pretty similar too. 

“Rachel,” she began.

“Hey, how’s it going?” 

“Nice call-back,” Lorelai said, smiling. 

“So.” 

“So,” she paused, attempting to process what was happening, “so, you’re here,” Lorelai confirmed, because this really felt like one of those things that didn’t happen. Or only happened in those bizarre dreams where your boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend, who also happened to be your sort-of-maybe-could-have-been-maybe girlfriend turns up unexpectedly to throw you one of life’s curveballs. Just her? Okay. She snapped out of her spiral of babble, and opened her mouth in an attempt to salvage this conversation just a little, but before she could Rachel spoke first. 

“I am, I am really here. This place looks great, you’ve done an amazing job.” 

“Thank you, that means a lot, I know how much you loved this place before.” Still feeling very self-conscious, even though exactly zero people here knew about her past with Rachel, she felt like it was written all over her face. Lorelai suggested they go for a walk. 

“Sounds great,” Rachel answered, still carrying her bags.

Lorelai took her bags and carried them into her office, “Michel’s in a mood, and he’ll only get grouchier if I leave them in his way behind the desk,” she said. 

“I noticed,” Rachel replied, following Lorelai into her office. 

“They’ll be safe in here, let’s go,” she said.

Rachel took in her surroundings and noticed the photos Lorelai had on her walls, “You kept them,” she said, pleased that it seemed she hadn’t totally forgotten. 

“Of course, they are a part of the story of this place,” she said. 

“Good, that’s good to know.” 

“Let’s go out to the garden, this room is feeling a little small, don’t you think?” 

“Good idea,” Rachel said.

*

“So, why are you here?” Lorelai asked cautiously, desperately wanting to feel less nervous and know the answer to the question gnawing at her gut. 

“I saw your article.”

“You saw my article?”

“Yeah, I was in New York, and I passed by this magazine stand and I saw it. I can never seem to let go of this place, I guess,” Rachel explained, “and suddenly I was on a bus to Stars Hollow.” 

“I never expected to see you again. I guess now I understand how Luke feels.”

“Yeah, I do have a tendency to pop up out of nowhere from time to time, how is Luke by the way, is he good?” 

_‘Oh boy, Luke. Luke. Should I tell her? Should I tell her about me and Luke? Would that screw things up too much? I mean she’s here, this town is tiny, he’s going to find out eventually, she can’t avoid him forever, especially considering, you know, me and Luke, Luke and I.’_ Lorelai’s mind was back in babble-spiral-mode, “Luke? Luke is good,” she answered simply. 

“Good, I’m glad he’s good.” Rachel replied, “Is he, uh, seeing anyone?” 

“Uh, yeah, he is,” Lorelai fidgeted and paused before she added, “me, actually, he finally asked me out.”

“Oh, good. He finally saw what was right in front of his face. I told him you know, the night I left, last time, that he should, well, not told, but strongly hinted,” Rachel said. 

Lorelai felt like she could breath now, after getting that elephant out of the room. 

“You told him to?” Lorelai asked, a little surprised, it seemed Rachel had more influence on her life than even she knew. 

“I told him I wouldn’t stand in his way, basically. We tried, we tried to go back to what we had, but it was obvious to me and to him that his heart was elsewhere.” 

“Wow, Rachel, I don’t know what to say,” Lorelai said, _‘it would be weird to thank her,’_ she thought, but also kind of warranted as it was kind of, at least in part, due to Rachel leaving that Lorelai was here now able to be with Luke. She decided against thanking her directly, it would be too weird. Not that anything about their situation, or their history was normal. But she didn’t need to add to the weirdness level. 

“You don’t need to say anything, it was the right thing to do, and I did it,” Rachel said.

Desperately wanting to get off the subject of Luke, Lorelai decided to change it completely, “Do you have anywhere to stay? I assume you’re staying? And that this isn’t just a one-day ‘Hey Lorelai your inn looks great now I’m leaving to save bunnies or kittens or photograph something really important visit?’ Is it? Please tell me it’s not.” 

Rachel smiled, Lorelai was one of a kind, “Yeah, I’m staying, if that’s all right.”

“It’s all right,” Lorelai confirmed.

“I don’t, by the way, have anywhere to stay, I hadn’t quite gotten to that part,” Rachel answered. 

“Do you maybe want to stay here? I mean it’s an inn and there are rooms. It’s nice, I mean look at the pretty flowers, and we have great seats to sit on inside, and the beds are really comfortable, it’s pretty much a win-win kind of deal, and I hear the owner is delightful, and ever so pretty,” Lorelai offered, stopping herself before she embarrassed herself further. 

“Sure, why not, I mean I’m here, and my bags are already inside,” Rachel answered.

“Good, I’m pleased.” 

“And I can confirm that the owner is delightful, and pretty, and hasn’t lost any of her charm, even after five years.”

Lorelai’s cheeks felt warm, _‘God, she can still do that.’_

Rachel smiled, as they walked back inside to get her stuff.

*

Lorelai grabbed a room key from behind the desk, ignoring Michel’s protests, and took Rachel up to her room. 

“And here’s your room,” Lorelai announced as she opened the door. 

“You really have done an amazing job here Lorelai,” Rachel said, sincerely. 

“Thank you, really, it means a lot.”

“Look, I’ll let you get settled, and if you need anything just call down or come down and find me, I’ll see you later, okay? Maybe we could, I don’t know, have dinner here or something? The food is amazing, and-” Lorelai was about to list the many amazing qualities of Sookie and her food, but sensing they’d never get out of this conversation Rachel cut her off before she could go any further, “Sure, dinner sounds nice.” 

“Great, I’ll see you then, 7:30 sound good?” Lorelai asked.

“Yeah, 7:30 sounds great, see you Lorelai,” Rachel replied. 


	2. Chapter 2

  
Lorelai left Rachel’s room and went outside, she needed some air. Today had been a lot. She walked around to the other side of the porch where she knew she wouldn’t be interrupted. Rory. She had to call Rory. She needed some perspective. 

“Hey.” 

“Mom?”

“Yeah of course, who else would start a phone call with ‘hey’.”

“Practically everyone who ever answers a phone call.”

“You maybe have a point there.”

“So is that why you called me, to tell me ‘hey’?”

“You think I’d call you just to tell you ‘hey’?”

“Stranger things have happened, mom, like the time you called me to tell me you’d found a piece of lint that looked exactly like Kirk’s face.” 

“Ok, well, maybe _that_ was weirder, I’ll give you that, but you have to admit there was a striking resemblance.”

“Are we really having a ‘which phone call was weirder’ conversation? Do you really want to add more to the list of Weird Phone Calls I’ve Had With My Mom?”

“You’re keeping a list?”

“Not the point, mom, not that I know what the point is, I wish I did, then I could stop having this conversation about lint.”

“Right, the point, it must be here somewhere.”

“Mom, really, what is it?”

Lorelai took a deep breath, “Rachel’s here.”

“Rachel? Luke’s Rachel?”

“Yeah. That Rachel,” Lorelai answered.

“Wow, you mean in Stars Hollow? Does Luke know?” 

“I mean _here_ here, the Inn here,” Lorelai answered.

“She’s at the Inn? How come?” 

“She saw the article, and I guess wanted to see me,” Lorelai offered.

“She wanted to see you? Why?” 

Lorelai paused, she meant to for only a second, but quickly the second turned into several seconds, and pretty soon too many had gone by for it to seem like she had an answer ready.

“Mom?” Rory asked, also noticing the amount of seconds that had passed.

“Yeah, I’m still here,” Lorelai said, “it’s complicated, that’s all,” she really didn’t know how to tell Rory, which was stupid, because it’s Rory: the person to whom she tells everything. This shouldn’t be weird, “You remember before, the first time Rachel was here?”  
  
“Yeah, I remember,” Rory answered, curious to know where this was going.

“I never told anyone about this, not even you, which by the way I did because you were only sixteen and just because my personal life was messed up didn’t mean your’s had to be too, plus you had that whole thing with Dean and the anniversary,” Lorelai took another deep breath, “Rachel and I sort of had sex,” she paused again, “at the Dragonfly…on the porch,” Lorelai finished, waiting for some response from Rory, she needed her to not freak out, she hoped she wouldn’t be mad she never told her. 

“Rory? You still there?”

“Yeah, sorry, just processing,” Rory replied, “you had sex with Luke’s girlfriend? On the porch? At the inn?” 

“Yeah.” 

“And you never told me?” 

“I just explained why I never told you.”

“No it’s fine, it’s just a lot, what about Luke? Does he know? Is that why Rachel left?”

“No, Rachel left because she’s Rachel, and because she could see how Luke felt about me, she didn’t want to get in the way of that,” Lorelai explained, “and yeah, Luke knew, I’m not really sure how much he knew, but Rachel told me he was okay with it, so I’m guessing he didn’t know that much,” she felt a little more calm now that she’d gotten that out. 

“Wow, this is,” Rory started.

“A lot, I know,” Lorelai finished.

“Mom, I, uh, didn’t know you were into, you know, women, that way,” Rory said, hesitantly, not really sure of what her mother’s response would be.

“Yeah, well, I always wanted to keep my love-life separate from my life with you, to protect you, like that whole thing with Max,” Lorelai explained, “I’ve always had both boyfriends and girlfriends, I just never made the second one known about, it was hard enough worrying about what you’d (or anyone else for that matter) would think about my boyfriends, without having to get into the ‘oh Lorelai likes girls too’ conversation.”

“I get that, but, as I said with Max, you know you always could have brought them home, I would have been fine with it,” Rory offered, hoping it would make her feel a little more reassured. 

“Yeah I know, thanks kid.”

“Anytime, mom,” Rory said, “so is that why you called me, to tell me about you and Rachel?” 

“Not only that.” 

“There’s more?”

“Not from then, but now,” Lorelai answered.

“Oh? There’s a now as well?” Rory asked, a little surprised. 

“I sort of asked Rachel to have dinner, and while I know, it’s just dinner, she does something to me, Rory, like she casts a spell over me and I can’t think. She’s so beautiful, I can’t help it. I really get how Luke must have felt.”

“Rachel knows you’re with Luke, right?”

“Yeah, but that never stopped us last time,” Lorelai answered.

“True,” Rory said, not really helping the situation.

“I mean, should I tell Luke? I shouldn’t should I? It should come from her,” Lorelai asked.

“You shouldn’t tell Luke, that would be too weird, have the dinner and see what happens, try not to do anything too stupid, and maybe it’ll all work out, maybe it won’t be weird,” Rory offered, knowing it really could never be that simple.

“Right, but what if Luke calls wondering where I am? I mean we haven’t set up any plans for tonight, but what if, you know?”

“Just tell him you’re spending time with me, or that you have some guests arriving late, and you have to say late, he’d have no reason to doubt you then,” Rory suggested.

“Right, if he calls, I’ll do that, thanks hon,” Lorelai replied. “He doesn’t need to know, right?” She was looking for some reassurance. 

“It’s better if he doesn’t,” Rory said. 

“Right, thanks, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, talk to you later, bye mom.”

*

“You were right, the food is great,” Rachel said, finishing up the last bite of her meal, “and this garden is beautiful, I forget if I already said that.” 

Lorelai smiled, “Thanks, and yeah Sookie’s a genius,” she replied.

“Did you tell her I’m here?” 

“No, she’d be all over us if she knew,” Lorelai replied.

“Have you told anyone?” 

Lorelai wasn’t sure if Rachel meant Luke, or just people in general, and she considered mentioning Rory, but maybe that would be too weird? Was it weird to tell your daughter your boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend was here to see you? “No, no I haven’t, not yet,” she was pretty sure that was as unconvincing as a response could be, but she tried.

Lorelai felt like Rachel saw right through that response, so she decided to just go for it, “Ok, actually, I told Rory, I called Rory to tell her about tonight. I was nervous. Is that all right? I’m not sure if you wanted people to know, or if you were okay with me telling people, but in this case, people just means Rory, not you know, _people_ , like Luke people.”

Rachel smiled, “It’s fine that you told Rory, don’t worry about it.”

“Ok, good,” Lorelai replied. “Are you going to tell Luke?” she added. 

“Yeah, I’ll go and see him eventually, but I wanted to spend some time with you first. I came here because of you remember?” 

“Oh, yeah, of course, you came here to see me,” Lorelai replied, not sure how she should feel. She did feel happy, but she also felt like she was about to do something stupid, which she specifically remembered Rory warning her not to do.

Rachel took the lead and lent forward to kiss her. The feeling that it was inevitable was in the air so she took the chance for the both of them. 

That warm feeling from before? Here it was again. Lorelai responded, god she’d missed this feeling. It was different to kissing men, somehow softer and made her feel sappy and stupid, “That was nice,” she said, pulling back, “I’m glad you haven’t lost your touch.” 

“How about we go and find that bed we were missing last time?” Rachel asked.

Lorelai smiled, “Sounds perfect.”   
*

  
They managed to make it upstairs to Rachel’s room unnoticed, Lorelai didn’t know which fairy godmother was in charge tonight but made a mental note to thank her later. 

As soon as the door was closed, and a ‘do not disturb’ sign hung on the doorknob, the kissing resumed; fervent and passionate, filled with the time they’d missed out on. Rachel led Lorelai to the bed and slowly removed her jacket. Once they hit the bed, Rachel ran her hand under Lorelai’s blouse and cupped her breast, squeezing it gently.

Lorelai let out a soft moan as Rachel’s hands continued exploring. She was actively ignoring every one of the warning bells going off in her head, she knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but she couldn’t help it. The sound of the warning bells lessened as all thought was now focused on Rachel.

Lorelai rolled them over, taking control of the situation, proving to the warning bells once and for all that she was going to do this no matter how loud they were. She ran her fingers down Rachel’s stomach, undoing the button of her jeans. Rachel helped her by pulling them down, revealing what Lorelai was seeking. 

Lorelai ran her fingers over the sensitive area, noticing how wet it already was; she was just getting started. She made circles with her thumb with one hand and with the other, she slid two fingers inside. She was purposely going slowly, to drive Rachel crazy, occasionally she looked up at Rachel’s face: she was succeeding. With her fingers still occupied, she crawled back up and kissed Rachel again. 

“You’re dangerously good at this, you know,” Rachel said.

Lorelai smiled, “Aren’t you glad we have a bed now?” 

“Best decision ever,” Rachel said, as Lorelai began moving her fingers faster, “Though that one wasn’t bad either, personally I’d vote for more of that.”

“You like that?” 

“Definitely,” she replied, a moan escaped her mouth as she said it, which made Lorelai even more motivated to continue.

“That can be arranged, but first, we need to do something about this,” she said, sliding her fingers out for a moment, and removing Rachel’s shirt, and bra. 

“Oh, right, of course,” She said, “and you know, I can’t be the only one, so your turn now.” Once Rachel was naked, she decided Lorelai should be too, so she helped get undressed also. 

“Much better,” she said, admiring the beautiful creature before her. 

“I agree,” Lorelai added, “now, where was I?” 

Rachel took Lorelai’s hand, and directed it back down to where it had been previously, “Oh, right, here, I remember now,” Lorelai said, resuming her previous activity. 

It wasn’t long after that that Rachel reached her climax. This women would be the death of her she was sure of it, but also completely okay with that, “Your turn,” she said, rolling them over again. 

“Well, sure, if you insist,” Lorelai said playfully. 

“Oh, I definitely do,” Rachel replied. She began with gently massaging Lorelai’s breasts, running her thumb over the hardened nub, stopping occasionally to run her tongue over it. 

“Mmm, keep going,” Lorelai said, softly. 

Rachel peppered kisses down Lorelai’s stomach and once she reached her centre she decided to use her tongue there too, and brushed her tongue over Lorelai’s most sensitive area. This almost drove Lorelai over the edge, but she resisted. Rachel’s fingers also soon began doing their work, she slowly inserted two of them and made sure to look up at her face as she did. She was so perfect. 

“That, definitely do more of that, god, you’re good, Rachel,” Lorelai said, not knowing how she managed to get words out in an order that made sense. 

Rachel decided to quicken the pace, which Lorelai seemed to be enjoying. 

This did it, Lorelai was officially driven over the edge and reached her climax then. Rachel crawled back up and licked her fingers, “You taste good,” she said. 

“So do you, just as I remember,” Lorelai said, kissing her.

Rachel wrapped her arms around Lorelai’s neck as she did, so their bodies were pressed together.

“This is the perfect night,” Lorelai said.

Rachel kissed her again, “I agree.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Lorelai woke first, taking a moment to admire the beautiful sight in front of her. It took a moment before she was brought back down to reality, _‘Oh, god, I’m at the inn. Naked. In bed, with Rachel sleeping next to me, crap, what time is it? Where are my clothes? Crap. Luke. Sookie. She’ll know I’m totally wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Crap. And my hair looks like a tornado blew through it. Crap.’_ Lorelai quickly scrambled to get out of bed and find her clothes, and flatten her hair so it looked somewhat presentable. She really needed to get out of here, hopefully, if the same fairy godmother was still on duty, she’d get out of here without anyone noticing her, but she knew that was not even a long shot, it was a long long shot. Like super long. 

“Lorelai?” Rachel asked, sleepily, vaguely registering the frantic motions Lorelai was doing as she was trying to get dressed.

“Rachel, it’s fine, go back to sleep,” Lorelai said, finally dressed.

Rachel sat up.

“I need to go, gosh what time is it?” 

Rachel looked over at the clock on the bedside table, “8:30,” she replied.

“Crap, I _really_ need to go, they’re going to notice I’m not down there,” Lorelai said, searching the room for her purse. 

“Yes, go, I’ll talk to you later,” Rachel replied.

“See you, Rachel,” Lorelai said, taking a moment (a very quick moment, because she should have been gone by now) to take one last look at Rachel, “By the way, just so you know, last night was amazing, I don’t want you to think I’m running out on you or anything, I mean I am running out, but only because I have to, this is my inn, people are expecting me to be places that aren’t guest rooms.”

Rachel smiled, “It’s fine Lorelai, and I agree, it was amazing.” 

“Good, thanks Rachel, well I guess I’ll see you,” Lorelai replied. 

Lorelai closed the door carefully behind her and started to make her way downstairs, she desperately hoped she could sneak out without anyone seeing her. She decided to make a run for it, it didn’t look like Michel was at the desk, there were a couple of staff members in the lobby area, but she figured if she was quick enough she’d be able to get passed without them seeing her, “Here goes nothing, I guess,” she said to herself as she made her way quickly down the stairs. 

No one saw her.

She could breathe now.

“Man, I really need to buy that fairy godmother a drink,” she said, getting into her car. 

*

Lorelai felt better once she arrived home, at least she’d be able to get some fresh clothes. Though she did decide a shower was her first course of action. If she saw Luke the absolute last thing she needed was to be smelling like Rachel. She also needed to call Sookie and let her know she’d be late, though she already was late. Was it considered late if you slept at your workplace? Whatever, no need to think about that now. A shower was all she needed to think about at this moment in time. 

She showered, and picked out an outfit. 

Now it was time to call Sookie to let her know she’d be late.

“Hey Sookie,” she said. 

“Lorelai! Where are you? Why aren’t you here? I was getting worried, no one has seen you since yesterday afternoon.”

“I’m fine, I just overslept that’s all, I’ll be there soon, don’t worry.”

“Ok, you’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Sookie, I’ll see you soon.”

She needed coffee. Which was a problem, because it meant she needed to go to Luke’s, “How could I not have coffee in my house? Who am I?” She asked out loud, as she rushed out the door. 

*

Luke’s was fairly crowded at this time of morning, which she took as a good sign, as Luke would be preoccupied, and maybe wouldn’t question why she never called him yesterday. She walked up to the counter and sat down, “I need coffee, whatever form you have it in, I’ll take it.” 

“You know, every time you say that, it makes me want to give it to you less,” Luke replied, reluctantly grabbing the coffee pot.

“You’re a god, you know that, a beautiful, tall, handsome coffee god,” Lorelai replied, taking a big sip.

“Oh good a promotion,” Luke replied, flatly. “So were you busy last night, I never heard from you?” he asked. 

Because of course he would ask. 

“Yeah, a group of guests arrived pretty late last night and I had to be there to get them sorted, sorry I didn’t call, I didn’t get a chance,” Lorelai replied. It was a by-the-numbers answer, but she hoped it would suffice. 

Luke nodded, “Yeah, it’s fine, you want to get together tonight for dinner? I was thinking around 7 at my place?”

“Yeah, sounds good, I’ll see you then coffee god,” Lorelai replied, leaning over the counter to kiss him.

“Only if you drop the coffee god,” Luke replied.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Bye.”

“Yeah, see you tonight.” 

*

Lorelai was back at the inn. She could maybe now start her morning with some semblance of normalcy. Maybe. 

She went straight into the kitchen to see Sookie, just to let her know she was here and okay, because she knew she’d ask if she didn’t, plus she needed more coffee. 

“Hey, you’re here, so you over slept this morning? Big night with Luke last night huh?” Sookie asked, playfully nudging Lorelai with her elbow.

“No, I just overslept, that’s all,” Lorelai said. 

“Really? So no Luke?” 

“No Luke, but I’m seeing him tonight, if that makes you feel better,” Lorelai offered.

“It does, thank you,” Sookie replied, adding some herbs to whatever she was cooking on the stove, “I just really want this to work out with you and Luke, you know, after what happened at your parent’s wedding and all that.”

“I know, hon, I get it,” Lorelai said. 

*

Rachel waited until Luke’s typical late morning lull to go and see him. She knew she would have to eventually, she couldn’t spend the whole time hidden away at the Dragonfly. 

“Hey,” She said, simply.

Luke looked up, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Rachel? Rachel was here? Again? Now? “Rachel, you’re…you’re here?” 

“Yeah, I am, how are you? Are you good?” 

“I’m fine, yeah, I’m doing good,” Luke replied, slowly, as if each word took thought. He really didn’t know what to say.

“Do you want to talk here, or go upstairs?” Rachel asked. 

“Upstairs would be better,” Luke replied. “Cesar I’m going upstairs, okay?” 

Rachel followed him. 

“So why are you here, Rachel? Are you here to see me? Because you know, I’m with Lorelai now, so, uh, it’s not gonna work the same as it did before.”

“I didn’t come here just to see you, Luke.”

“You didn’t?” Luke asked, relieved and a little confused, who else did Rachel know in Stars Hollow? Was there someone else here she was involved with? Did he know them? Was she staying here? No, it’s Rachel, she would never stay here. His mind was running a mile a minute. Too many questions. 

“No, actually, I came here to see Lorelai,” Rachel replied, calmly.

“You came here to see Lorelai?” Luke asked, more confused than he was before, “Why did you come here to see Lorelai?”

“Well, I was in New York, and I passed by this news stand and saw the Dragonfly on the cover of a magazine. I bought the magazine and, well, now I’m here.” 

It didn’t quite make sense to Luke how seeing an article in a magazine could translate to coming to Stars Hollow to see Lorelai, but this was Rachel, her impulsiveness was something he could never quite understand, “So are you, I mean, do you want to, do you have somewhere to stay? Are you staying?”

“I’m actually staying at the Dragonfly. I met Lorelai there yesterday and she found a room for me.” 

“You saw Lorelai?” Luke asked 

“Yeah, I did, she had a look on her face just like the one on yours now.”

Luke took in her words, and remembered Rachel’s _thing_ for Lorelai that she’d had five years ago when they first met, he wondered if they’d done anything, if he knew Rachel, and he did, then he figured they probably did. He wasn’t mad about it, a little confused, and felt like he had been left in the dark for five years, but he wasn’t mad, as such, well, maybe he was a little mad, “So, did you two, ‘hang out’ yesterday?” 

“‘Hang out’?” Rachel asked, “Luke, come on, we’re adults.”

“So did you?”

“Yeah, we did,” Rachel replied, she hadn’t hid this thing with Lorelai (or whatever it was) with him five years ago, so she figured why should she now. 

“You hung out, so what, you…?” He wanted Rachel to finish the sentence for him. 

“We slept together okay, Luke. We did, there, I said it, I admitted it, happy?” 

“You what?” 

“We slept together.” 

Now he was mad. 

Rachel sensed the shift in Luke’s mood, and added, “It’s not a big deal, Luke, I know you’re with Lorelai, it was just a one-time thing.”

“Don’t try and justify this to me, Rachel.”

“What else can I do, Luke? It’s not a big deal!” 

“Not to you maybe, but to me, it is.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

Luke calmed down a little, “You’re sure? You’re sure it was only a one-time thing? That you, my ex-girlfriend, slept with my current girlfriend? You’re sure it was just a one-time thing?” Okay, so maybe he hadn’t quite calmed down yet.

“Yes, I’m sure. Just don’t be mad at Lorelai. After all I’m the one who showed up here, it’s on me, Luke.”

“You have some nerve coming here and telling me that, Rachel.” 

“Would you rather I didn’t tell you? And you found out through someone else? Or worse fought with Lorelai about it? No, I didn’t want to do that to you or to Lorelai. I chose to be honest.” 

That made Luke calm down, “Ok, it’s fine, I guess, a little weird, but fine,” he said. He still didn’t quite understand this thing between Lorelai and Rachel, but if Rachel says it’s not a big deal, then, fine, it’s not a big deal. He did want to know Lorelai’s feelings on the situation though, as just because it wasn’t a big deal to Rachel, that didn’t mean it wasn’t to Lorelai. 

“So we’re good?” Rachel asked, hopeful she hadn’t made him hate her completely. 

“Yeah, we’re good.” Luke replied, “I’m actually having dinner here with Lorelai tonight, if you maybe wanted to come?” He wasn’t quite sure why he asked that, but he felt like he should, he didn’t want to make Rachel feel totally alienated from him or from Lorelai, she was clearly important to both of them. 

“Wouldn’t that be crashing your date?” 

“No, I’m sure it would be fine, you want to run it by Lorelai or should I?” 

“I think I should,” Rachel replied, she really wanted to go, of course, but she didn’t want it to be weird for Lorelai, and she didn’t want to feel like a third wheel, so she figured if Lorelai was cool with it she would be cool with it. 

“Okay sure, well I’ll see you at 7, I guess, if she’s fine with it.” 

“Yeah, sounds good,” Rachel replied, “You’re sure you’re okay Luke? I don’t want to screw up us even more than I already have.” 

“I’m okay, Rachel, don’t worry,” Luke replied. 

“Good,” She replied, smiling, “I’m going to call Lorelai now, and ask her.” 

“I should get back, I’ll see you later,” Luke told her, “you can stay up here if you want, you know, while you call Lorelai.” 

“Thanks Luke.” 


	4. Chapter 4

Luke left and Rachel pulled out her phone to call Lorelai. 

“Hey, it’s me, can you talk?” Rachel asked. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” Lorelai asked, closing her office door and locking it, just in case.

“I went and saw Luke. Actually I’m in Luke’s apartment now.”

“You went to see Luke? What happened?” 

“Well, I told him I saw you, I told him about what happened last night. He was mad, but he calmed down and doesn’t hate either of us, which is a positive sign.” 

Lorelai felt sympathetic towards Rachel, that had to have been hard to confront Luke like that, but she also knew it probably wasn’t the first time she’d had to do it, “He was mad?”

“Yeah, a little, but he’s okay with what happened, he even asked if I’d like to join you two for dinner tonight.”

“He did?” _'Why would he do that? Because he’s Luke, that’s why.'_

“Yeah, and I told him I’d have to run it passed you first, whether or not I go.”

“Do you want to go? Wouldn’t it be weird?” Lorelai asked, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it really, but if Luke didn’t think it was weird, and Rachel didn’t think it was weird, then she should also be okay with it, shouldn’t she?

“Maybe, but it doesn’t have to be, does it? I mean we are all friends too, right?” 

“If I hadn’t slept with you, would you still want to come?” Lorelai asked.

“Yeah, of course, I liked you as a friend before I thought of sleeping with you,” Rachel replied. Though that thought had come pretty quickly after she’d first met Lorelai. 

“Okay, then I guess I’m fine with it, if you’re comfortable with it, you’re welcome to join us Rachel. I do want you there, I just hope I don’t do anything stupid, around you I seem to loose all of my senses and become a love-drunk schoolgirl.” 

This made Rachel blush, thankfully Lorelai couldn’t see that, “I’ll see you at 7 then, gorgeous.” 

There was silence.

“Lorelai, you there?” 

Lorelai regained her composure, Rachel calling her gorgeous turned her face a bright beaming red, and she was smiling like an absolute moron, “Yeah, I am, sorry.”

“It worked didn’t it?”

“What worked? I don’t know what you’re talking about?” 

“It did, good to know, see you later Lorelai.” 

“Bye Rachel.”

“I am so screwed. Luke is going to think I truly have lost it,” Lorelai said to herself, as she put her phone away.   
*  
Later on that afternoon Lorelai decided she should update Rory, the poor girl was probably going out of her mind wondering how stupid her mother had managed to be. Pretty stupid as it turned out, but possibly not as stupid as agreeing to have dinner with your boyfriend and the women you just had sex with last night. 

Rory noticed who was calling this time, “Hey mom, how did it go?”

“Oh, well, you know, dinner was lovely, we sat out in the garden and just talked.”

“You just talked?” 

“At dinner, yeah.”

“And after dinner?”

“Well, there was _some_ talking involved,” Lorelai couldn’t help but giggle a little. 

“Mom!”

“What? I told you I can’t help it.”

“Oh god, you slept with her didn’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, I thought I just said that?”

“I just wanted to make sure.” 

“Well, now you know.”

“Have you spoken to Luke at all?”

“I went to the diner after I snuck out of the Inn this morning, and acted like nothing had happened, but Rachel just called me, she went see Luke, and told him what happened.”

“What? She told Luke? Was he mad?”

“Yeah, she said they fought about it a little, but she also said she calmed him down and he’s okay with it now. He even asked her to join us tonight.” 

“Wow, that is…something, is she going to join you?”

“Yeah, she is, she said she’d only come if I was fine with it and I guess I agreed that I was fine with it, so she’s coming.”

“Are you fine with it?” 

“I guess I am, yeah, but what if I do something stupid? I can’t with Luke there, right? Surely some sensible part of my brain will kick in and yell, ‘No! Lorelai don’t do it!’ right at the right moment to stop me?” 

“You really like her don’t you?”

Rory's question kind of threw Lorelai for a moment, but she thought about it for a second, “I do. But I know I can’t. I love Luke.” 

“But you also love Rachel.”

“I do don’t I? But I can’t. Luke is here, Luke isn’t leaving. Luke is permanent. Rachel would never put her life on hold to stay here, and I couldn’t do that to Luke.” 

“You’ll be fine, mom,” Rory reassured her. 

“I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye mom.”  
*

Lorelai was standing, with her hands on her hips, in just her underwear, (which she had chosen purposefully) in front of her closet, trying to work out what on Earth she should wear for her date? dinner? whatever it was with Luke and Rachel tonight. 

She could wear something amazing and drive both Rachel and Luke crazy? That definitely sounded appealing, but she wasn’t sure, maybe that would encourage her to do something stupid, but at the same time, she enjoyed the idea of wearing something that would drive both Rachel and Luke crazy. She took out a low cut black satin dress, which had a dusty pink strip around the waist, _'Maybe you would do?'_ She thought, slipping it over her head. So she had a dress, now to find a jacket and some shoes to match. She looked through her closet and found a jacket which was about the same colour as the pink strip on the dress, and went for some black heals. She was satisfied. 

She looked at the time, it was nearly 7, she should start making her way over to Luke’s, she figured that Rachel would meet her there. 

*  
When she arrived at Luke’s, she made her way up and noticed Rachel sitting at the top of the stairs, “Rachel? What are you doing out here?” 

“I thought it might be weird if I was waiting in Luke’s apartment without you, I don’t know, it’s stupid,” she explained, standing up. 

“No, it’s not stupid, a little weird, but not stupid,” Lorelai replied, “come on, let’s go in before Luke comes out and yells at us for lurking around his front door.” 

“Good plan,” Rachel replied, following Lorelai to the door, “you look amazing by the way.”

Lorelai’s cheeks felt warm, “Thanks, so do you,” she said.

Rachel smiled and they went inside.

Luke was at the stove, stirring something, “Look who I found,” Lorelai announced, “well, technically she found me, and also you’ve already seen her today, so forget that.” Lorelai walked over to Luke and kissed him as a hello, to perhaps distract him from what she’d just said.

“You look great,” Luke replied, kissing her back. 

“Thanks, that does seem to be the general consensus tonight,” Lorelai replied, then looked over at Rachel, “so shall we sit? Or do you need my cooking expertise here?” Lorelai asked, trying to lighten the mood, turning back to Luke.

“Please, sit, the last thing this needs is your cooking expertise,” Luke replied.

“Fine, I can sit, I’m good at that,” Lorelai replied, gesturing for Rachel to join her.

“Not a big fan of cooking, Lorelai?” Rachel asked.

“No, but my takeout ordering powers know no bounds.”

“Luke taught me a lot about cooking, he’s actually pretty good,” Rachel said.

“Oh I’ve heard, his sister Liz was telling me, she said something about amazing tortillas, and paella, and gumbo.” 

“You met Liz?”

“Yeah a few times. Actually, Luke asked me to go with him to her wedding, we danced. There was dancing.” 

“She’s married, again? Wow, what number husband is this one?” Rachel asked. 

“Who knows, I’ve lost count, but TJ seems like a good fit for her,” Luke chimed in. 

“Also you _danced_?” Rachel asked, surprised, “You managed to get him to do the impossible, Lorelai, good for you.” 

“Seems I did, didn’t I? I do seem to remember him saying something about him being not much of a dancer, but I guess it was the lights and the music, it was nice.” Lorelai said.

“Yeah, it was,” Luke said, starting to serve up their meal. 

There was a weird feeling in the air, like a weird tension, wanting it to go away Lorelai asked, “Do you remember your first date with Luke, Rachel? I’m curious.”

“Yeah, I do,” Rachel began.

“She doesn’t need to hear about our first date, Rachel,” Luke protested. 

“She wants to know, I should tell her, just because it’s embarrassing for you, doesn’t mean I can’t share my side of it.”

“Embarrassing hey, well, now I have to know,” Lorelai said, eagerly.

“Fine, it’s not as if that would have stopped you anyway,” Luke replied.

They were all now sat at the table in Luke’s kitchen, and Rachel began telling their first date story, “So, we’d known each other, what, a year or so before you finally asked me?” 

“Something like that,” Luke said, blushing slightly.

“We went fishing.”

“Fishing?!” Lorelai was shocked, even for Luke that was bad, “Oh, Luke, thank god you’ve gotten better at your date planning.” 

“Yep, fishing. Luke picked the perfect spot on the lake where we were camping and declared that was our first date.” 

“Please tell me you took her out to a nice dinner at some point too,” Lorelai asked.

“I did, don’t worry,” He said, “and before you ask, no, it wasn’t a seafood restaurant,” Luke added. 

Lorelai was pleased she found this out, she planned on teasing him about it forever. 

“This food is great Luke,” Lorelai said, changing the subject.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it,” Luke replied. 

The weird tension still hung in the air, Lorelai could sense how awkward this was for Luke, she had tried to make it better by including them all in the conversations they were having, but she sensed for Luke it wasn’t really working. 

About halfway through eating their dinner, Rachel had gone downstairs to get some more napkins as Luke was out. Luke finally couldn’t take it and he just had to know what this thing was between Lorelai and Rachel, well, Lorelai’s perspective, he knew it wasn’t a big deal to Rachel, but he wasn’t sure about Lorelai. He had been watching her this whole time, how she looked at Rachel, the way she laughed when Rachel made a joke, it was clear to him that there was something going on, and he couldn’t take not knowing anymore, “Lorelai,” he said, his tone serious.

“Yeah Luke?” She asked carefully.

“Tell me about this thing with you and Rachel, I need to know, is it serious, are you sleeping with her?” 

“What? Luke!” Lorelai said, a little taken aback.

“Rachel told me,” Luke prompted.

“I know she told you, Luke, but it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, that night, it doesn’t mean anything okay? I’m with you.” Lorelai needed him to believe her, she wasn’t sure she was one hundred percent convincing, she certainly was working really hard to convince herself that it was true. 

“You’re with me? How exactly is sleeping with someone else ‘with me’?” 

“Luke, I told you, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I’m not in the regular habit of sleeping with other people okay?” Lorelai insisted, “Please believe me, you don’t have to worry. I don’t want this to eat at you, okay?” 

“Rachel told me the same thing, I guess if you feel the same way about it then I’m okay with it, I just needed to know how you felt about it. I was worried you’d be falling for her instead of me,” Luke admitted. 

Lorelai leant over and kissed Luke, “You don’t need to worry, okay?” she told him, reassuringly.

“If you say so,” Luke replied, kissing her back.

It was at this moment Rachel came back in with the napkins, she’d heard a bit of Lorelai and Luke’s conversation when she was coming back up stairs, she couldn’t say she was surprised, she knew Luke would ask Lorelai about it, for her side of the story if nothing else. Rachel sensed he didn’t really trust her being around Lorelai, but she wasn’t about to let on that she knew, “I’m back!” She announced, holding the stack of napkins up, as she came in the door.


	5. Chapter 5

As the evening went on, more beer, and more wine were drunk, making the conversations a little less sophisticated. They’d compensated for the awkward tension with drinking. 

“So Lorelai, who’s a better kisser, me or Luke?” she asked, playfully, she was a little drunk.

“Oh, don’t do that to me Rachel,” Lorelai replied, who was about as drunk as Rachel was. 

“Yeah don’t,” Luke said, “Lorelai you don’t have to answer that,” he added, slightly embarrassed, and feeling a little like he too had had too much beer.

“What if I want to?” Lorelai asked, playfully, mulling over the possibilities in her head.

“Don’t want to hurt his feelings, hey? I understand,” Rachel said, smiling.

“Right,” Lorelai replied, “maybe I should kiss you both now, you know, for science, to see who’s better?” 

“I’m game, how about you Luke? Afraid you’ll lose?” 

“Not a chance,” he replied, “So who’s first Lorelai me, or, or her?” 

Lorelai leant over and kissed Luke, about as well as someone in her state could, “Mmm pretty good, you taste good,” she said, kissing him again, in quick succession, then she stumbled over to Rachel, “Stand up, and let me kiss you, pretty girl.”

“My pleasure,” Rachel replied.

Lorelai wrapped her arms around Rachel’s neck and kissed her like her life depended on it, drunk though she was, she somehow managed to not fall over as she did.

Rachel responded with as much force as Lorelai had, and their kiss lasted a little longer than it probably should have, once they pulled apart Lorelai said, “Wow, thanks, you’re good, I want to do that again.” She kissed her again, with less force and more tenderness. 

Thankfully Luke was drunk enough to not notice how long they’d been kissing for, “So who’s better Lorelai, me, or, or, or, her?” 

Lorelai stood back and looked at them both, “Nope, too impossible, can’t decide, oh well,” she said, “that was fun,” she declared, stumbling back to her chair.

*  
The next morning, Luke woke first, quickly followed by Lorelai who had felt him get out of the bed. They had ended up on his bed slumped over each other. Rachel was still sleeping, on the couch. 

Lorelai sat up, her eyes barely open, “Luke?” 

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he replied.

Lorelai was able to fully open her eyes now, “Is Rachel, uh,” her head felt like it had expanded to three times its size, so it took her a second to find the words, “is she asleep still?” 

Luke looked over at Rachel, burrowed into the couch, “Yeah, looks like it, come on, let’s go down and get some coffee, and let her sleep,” he suggested. 

“Yes, good, coffee is good,” Lorelai replied, pressing down her hair, trying to make it look at least a little better. She got up and followed Luke downstairs.

“Do you remember anything from last night?” Luke asked, as he poured Lorelai’s coffee. 

Lorelai was still a little groggy, but took a sip of her coffee hoping that it would fire up her brain cells so her mouth could do the sentence-putting-together-thing in a somewhat decent manner, “I remember some of it, but it’s a little hazy,” she replied, she thought for a second, and touched her lips, “Luke, did I, kiss both you and Rachel last night?”   
  
“Yeah, you did, something about finding out who was the better kisser?” 

“Oh, yeah, it’s coming back to me.”

“You really seemed to enjoy that part, I seem to remember you jumped up and wrapped your arms around Rachel and kissed her for some time after you’d kissed me.”

Lorelai buried her face in her arms on the counter, “Oh god, I remember now,” she mumbled, “I’m sorry, Luke. You shouldn’t have had to see me kiss Rachel like that.” 

“Lorelai, it’s fine, we were all drunk,” Luke reassured her. 

Lorelai lifted her head up and looked at Luke, “Thanks Luke.”

Luke noticed how much Lorelai had already drunk so he grabbed the coffee pot and refilled her cup, “It’s fine, it was Rachel’s idea anyway, it’s not like you asked for it,” He said.

“True, but it’s not as if I resisted, I still went along with it, I kissed her,” Lorelai replied, taking a sip of her coffee, “and if I remember correctly, though my brain is a little fuzzy on the details, I was pretty enthusiastic about it too.” 

*

“You don’t need to protect her, Lorelai, I know you wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t encouraged you.” 

“Maybe, maybe not,” Lorelai replied, “she isn’t all to blame in this Luke, I mean, it’s not like I said no when she asked me up to her room at the inn either.”

“See, there, again, it was _her_ idea,” Luke replied. 

“Please don’t put all of this on Rachel, Luke, it’s not fair.”

“Do you want me to be mad at you? You don’t have to keep justifying this to me, Lorelai,” Luke asked, getting quite agitated. 

“Of course not, Luke, I’m just saying, I am involved in this too, it’s not entirely Rachel’s fault,” Lorelai answered. 

When Rachel woke up she realised she was alone in Luke’s apartment. She wondered for a moment where Luke and Lorelai were; she got up and looked around the apartment: they had definitely left, but where were they? As she got closer to the door, she could hear them downstairs in the diner, arguing. 

“Fine, you know what, fine, so it’s not all her fault, but she started this by coming here in the first place. I mean how could she!” Luke was mad now. 

“She didn’t know, Luke,” Lorelai tried to calm him down.

Rachel felt horrible, she truly hadn’t come here to mess up anyone’s relationship. She felt bad for Luke, she felt bad for Lorelai, who ended up being caught in the middle of all of this. So she figured she should go down there and talk to them. 

“Hey,” she started, cautiously. 

“Rachel, you’re awake,” Lorelai said, not really surprised their arguing had woken her up.

“Yeah, I noticed you two weren’t in the apartment so I went looking for you, and well, now I’m here,” Rachel replied, “look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset either of you, I really didn’t mean to get in the way of you either. I guess I should just go.”

“No, Rachel, it’s fine, really, Luke and I are okay,” Lorelai replied, and looked directly at Luke, “right, Luke? It’s not Rachel’s fault, we’re okay, aren’t we?” She asked. 

“I guess we are, yeah,” Luke replied. Not really totally okay with it at this precise moment, but he didn’t want to make things worse with Lorelai, so he was okay with it, as far as she was concerned. 

“No, I really should go, I’ve got to get back to the city,” Rachel said, realising her leaving was what she had to do to make things right. 

“Are you sure?” Lorelai asked. 

“Yeah, I think it’s for the best,” Rachel replied. 

“Would you like a ride back to the Dragonfly?” Lorelai asked.

“Sure, that’d be nice,” Rachel replied.

“Oh, shoot,” Lorelai realised she didn’t have her car with her, “Um, Luke would you mind driving us? I walked here last night.” 

“Sure, no problem,” Luke replied, in his best ‘I’m-totally-okay-with-the-situation’ voice. 

*

  
The ride to the Dragonfly was uncomfortably quiet, so when they arrived Lorelai went up with Rachel to get her bags and Luke waited in his truck. 

“We’ll only be a couple of minutes Luke,” Lorelai said, closing the truck’s door. 

“I’ll be here,” Luke replied.

Lorelai smiled, acknowledging his words, then walked inside with Rachel. 

They walked up to Rachel’s room and Lorelai helped her get her stuff together.

“Are you sure you have to leave?” Lorelai asked.

“You know I do, Lorelai, I can’t stay here, I can’t continue to get in between you and Luke,” Rachel replied, stuffing some clothes into her bag.

Lorelai nodded, she knew she was right, “Yeah, I understand, you’re all packed? You’ve got all your stuff?” She asked. 

“Yeah, I think so,” Rachel replied, “let’s go.”

Lorelai followed her downstairs and back outside. 

Rachel looked out and saw Luke sitting in his truck waiting, he was going to drop her off at the bus station. She and Lorelai were now standing at the base of the porch stairs, “You know, Lorelai, I’m not sorry that I came to see you, I don’t regret it, and I hope that you don’t either, even though I kind of messed things up.”

“I’m glad you came too, Rachel,” she replied, “and I want you to know I don’t regret anything either.”

“Good, I’m glad,” Rachel replied, she put her bags on the ground, and asked “do you think it would be all right if maybe I kissed you one last time? I’d really like our last moment together here to be a happy one.”

“Sure, yeah, of course,” Lorelai replied. 

Rachel looked at her for a few seconds, taking in the beauty before her. She then cupped Lorelai’s face with her hands and pulled her in for the kiss. She took her time, savouring the moment, she wanted Lorelai to remember this moment as well as she knew she would. 

Lorelai responded, opening her mouth more, letting Rachel’s tongue in. 

They held the kiss for a while for breaking apart. 

“I’ll miss you,” Lorelai said,

“I’ll miss you too,” Rachel replied.

“One more?” Lorelai asked.

Rachel nodded.

Lorelai initiated the kiss this time, also taking her time to savour the moment, if nothing else Rachel was an excellent kisser and she wanted as many memories of it as she could get. 

Luke watched them from his truck, he watched as Rachel kissed Lorelai and as Lorelai kissed her back. Truth be told, he felt a little betrayed by Lorelai for how she had been acting around Rachel, but he couldn’t blame her entirely, he knew the kind of effect Rachel had on people, he’d fallen for it himself numerous times over the years. He was a little jealous that Rachel could share that kind of intimacy with Lorelai, he felt like now it should be all for him. 

Lorelai’s eyes glanced over at Luke’s truck, and she ended the kiss, “We should really get going,” she said, gesturing towards Luke’s truck.

“Yeah, we should, let’s go,” Rachel replied, picking up he bags.

Lorelai walked over with her, “Do you want me to come with you guys?” she asked. 

“No, it’s fine, we’ll just be a couple of minutes,” Luke answered, he knew if those two spent any longer together there would probably be more kissing, and he really didn’t feel like seeing more of that. 

“Okay, I’ll see you later, at the diner, Luke,” Lorelai replied.

“See you, Lorelai, and thanks,” Rachel said. 

“Bye, Rachel,” Lorelai replied. 

*  
“Hey Luke,” Lorelai said, taking her seat at the counter.

“I just made a fresh pot,” Luke replied, picking up the coffee pot, “you want some?”

“When do I not?” Lorelai asked. 

Luke poured her some coffee. 

“Hey, Luke?” Lorelai asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry, for what?” 

“For how I’ve treated you lately, I should have known better.”

“Lorelai, it’s fine, it’s over now, Rachel’s gone, and I’m here.”

“Yeah,” Lorelai replied, sort of deflated, “I guess you are,” she added, “I’ll miss her you know.”

“I know. She’s hard to forget.”

“Yeah, she is.”

“You know, I remember how I was after the first time she ever took off on me, I was miserable for a week.”

“I’ll bet, she’s a hard one to get over, I guess I’m lucky, at least I have you. You didn’t have anyone to lean on.”

“Yeah, you do, you definitely do.”

“Hey, Luke?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks.”

Luke smiled, “You’re welcome.” 

She would miss Rachel, and in the subsequent years later, she would continue to wonder where she was in the world and what amazing things she was doing, but at the end of the day she was glad for the time they had spent together and would look back on it fondly, she figured she’d had the best of both worlds: the exciting spontaneity of Rachel, and the sureness and stability of Luke. She smiled, looking at Luke: she was happy.

_The End_


End file.
